


Friends with Benefits

by Mewwy



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-02-20
Updated: 2012-03-19
Packaged: 2017-10-31 12:05:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/343849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mewwy/pseuds/Mewwy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Coda for 2.16. Danny wants more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"This friends with benefits thing isn't working for me anymore." Danny was pacing in Steve's bedroom, shirt undone and belt open.

"How can it not be working?" Steve is lying on the bed shirtless with his pants undone.

"I want more."

Standing up, Steve stops Danny's pacing and confronts him. "You want more?"

"Yes. I want to be able to be with you all the time, in a relationship. Something that will have a future." Danny watches Steve's reaction. He saw the small hope in his eyes, before it quickly vanished.

"You're with Gabby," Steve said.

Danny shot back, "You're with Catherine."

"Danny, Catherine is staying a hotel. That should tell you something."

Pushing Steve out of the way so he could pace, Danny started talking, "It tells me that you maybe want more, too! However, you are too damn chicken to say anything about it. I mean, I didn't bring Gabby to the fund raiser 'cause you were going to be there, but you had to flash Catherine in front of me."

"Flash Catherine? She is in town Danny." It sounded strained even to his ears. "I wasn't going to ditch her while she came to town to see me. Besides, Gabby has met Grace."

"So what?" Danny spat. "You have met Grace. Hell, she calls you Uncle Steve." 

"That’s just the thing. You want a relationship, yet you are working both sides of the fence, Gabby and me." Steve tried to stop Danny's pacing, but the other man just walked around him.

"Same thing with you and Catherine. You are playing both sides of the fence." Danny was getting pissed. He usually didn't get angry, but he wanted to make Steve understand he wanted more. He wanted someone to love him again Someone who would be there.

"Catherine knows our thing is casual. Does Gabby? Did you tell Gabby you only wanted friends with benefits with her? She's met Gracie for heaven's sake. That doesn't exactly scream casual." Steve was getting upset . Danny could tell by the look his eyes.

"Fuck you! You know I want a relationship. I want to have someone who is there for me all the time. Someone I can lay in bed with and bitch about what a crappy day I had." Danny's arms are flailing. His pacing is getting a bit faster in the small confines of the bedroom. "I want someone who cares how my day went. Someone I can have breakfast with and won't bitch about my food choices or will bitch about what I eat. I want to have someone steady and stable. I thought we could have that, but apparently we are nothing more than fuck buddies when our women are out of town." I want someone who will love me, he thought.

"Dammit! Danny, that isn't fair." Steve moved in front of Danny and stopped his progress. "We never named this. You were in love with Rachel up till, well, now. You have Gabby. Where do I fit in this picture? Because from where I am standing, I don't see me in the picture." The anger and confusion shows on Steve's face.

"See this is where this thing between us isn't working." Danny began to button his shirt up. "I want a relationship. I want someone I can be with all the time. You go, do your reserve drill, be with Catherine. You have the time to figure out what the hell you want." Tucking his shirt in and doing up his belt, Danny looked at Steve. "I know what I want. Now you have decide what you want."

Standing in front of Danny. "I don't know what you want Danny. You have Gabby, you love Rachel, you have me. What the hell do you want?"

"I want a relationship I can grow into. A person who loves me. Who LOVES me for better or worse. I thought I had that. I thought we were working toward that. Apparently, I was wrong." He pushed to get past Steve.

Steve stopped him. "Do you want a relationship with me? Because from where I sit, you are in three relationships right now. Which one do you want?"

Shoving past him, Danny got to the door. "I want a relationship with you. Think about that on your two weeks with Catherine. Think about what you want. I can't do this anymore." Steve listened to the receding footsteps through the house and then the door closed.

"I don't know if I want a relationship with anyone. I don't know if I can." Steve said to the empty room.

 

Finis


	2. Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes it is the easiest decisions that are the hardest. Coda 2.17 and 2.18.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of people ask me to complete the Friends with Benefits story. It was originally a stand alone story but I managed to find a way to conclude the story. I don't usually do sequels. I have written two stories at a time before, but not a sequel. I hope everyone likes how this turned out. I am not 100% happy with this, but I think it is good enough.

"So, umm, Iwanttoapologize." Steve was gripping the wheel tightly.

"Wow! I think I heard an apology in there. What, pray tell, exactly, are you apologizing for? There are so many things for which you should be apologizing."

Sniffing deeply, feeling clearly hurt, Steve said, "For our fight before I left for training."

Danny turns and looks at Steve. "Again, wow. You and feelings? Are you dying? Plan on blowing up Oahu? A volcano erupting that I don't know about?"

A grimace crossed Steve's face. "Seriously be quiet Danny, I'm trying to apologize, here." Steve sees the hand waves continue from Danny. "I know the friends with benefits thing wasn't, isn't working for you. I'm sorry for our fight."

"Which part of it, Steve? The part where we didn't have sex? The part where I walked out? The part where I told you what I wanted? Which part?" Danny's voice held sounded lifeless and defeated. He had told Steve exactly what he wanted, and what he wanted was Steve. It was Steve who couldn't make up his mind.

"The whole thing. Thinking that Gabby had met Grace. Not telling you how I felt. Not giving you what you need." Steve had spent a lot of time thinking about what Danny needed while he had been away. What he wanted. Everything. Since Danny was house sitting, Steve had gotten home a day early to talk to him, only to find the house a mess and Danny trying to burn it down. It wasn't a good time to start talking about this thing, whatever it was, between them. "You left before we could talk."

"We had a case, Steve. Besides, when do you want to talk? Since when do you do feelings?" Danny turns back to look at traffic ahead of them. They are headed to a crime scene at the marina. 

"You had your say, but you didn't let me have mine." Constipated hamster face was in fully in place on Steve's face. "It wasn't fair."

"Did you have something to say? I mean really? Because in the history of this friends with benefits thing I think all I've heard you say is 'fuck me harder, Danny' and 'oh gawd, your mouth'. I have never heard you say 'let's talk about how we feel about this'."

Steve turned to look at Danny. "That isn't fair. You never said anything, until that night. How was I supposed to know how you felt?" Steve challenged, looking back at the traffic. 

"Steve, maybe this isn't the best place for this discussion."

Pulling the car over to the side of the road, Steve said, "No, this is the perfect place for this discussion. I've been trying since I got back to talk to you, and you keep blowing me off. So we are going to discuss this...now."

Danny turned to Steve, hands flying. "In case it escaped your observation, we are headed to a crime scene, a scene where someone was blown up. I think, pulling over to the side of the road to discuss feelings is something we should, perhaps, table until another time."

After spending two weeks on the aircraft carrier, Steve knew what he wanted. He just needed Danny to listen. This was the first time they had a chance to talk, and Steve wasn't going to let it go. "No, that fact has not escaped me. I am driving after all, but we can spare 5 minutes to talk about this."

"Fucking control issues," Danny started to mutter.

"Shut up, Danny. I mean it." Steve was getting pissed. Usually, it was Danny who wanted to talk things to death, and now, now, he wouldn't talk. "I want to talk about this. Now." Steve received a hand wave in response, but Danny was still looking straight ahead. "Please, look at me."

Turning in his seat, Danny looked at Steve. "What, Steven? Why should I look at you?"

"Because we need to talk about this."

"Why now? Why all of the sudden, almost a week after you get back, do you want to talk?" Steve could hear the anger in Danny's voice. 

This was not going how Steve had hoped. "Maybe, because you keep dodging me. We talk, but only about the cases, Gracie, or nothing at all. You are good at the conversations pertaining to nothing, especially when you are hiding from me."

A snort emanated from Danny. "Hiding? How am I hiding?"

"You told me what you wanted before I shipped out, but I didn't know what I wanted at that point." Steve was staring at Danny, hoping he understood.

"You did't want me, so I moved on. I let Gabby meet Grace." Danny shrugged, but Steve could see it wasn't as laid-back as Danny pretended. 

"I never said that. I just told you...I didn't know what I wanted." Steve wanted so bad to take Danny's hand in his, to hug him and hold him in his arms. It was driving him nuts that Danny had stopped touching him as much as he used to, closed himself off and started pushing Steve away. Steve was touch starved, and Danny had done that. "You never gave me a chance to say anything. You decided that I wasn't in this, then you walked out."

"I decided nothing. I told you how I felt. You ran off to be with Catherine."

"I deployed to do my service. I didn't run off. You ran off." Steve huffed, "You made the decision I wasn't in this. I admit, at the time I was surprised."

Danny gave a bitter laugh. "Surprised? You, my friend, are never surprised."

Wanting so badly to reach out and take one of Danny's hands, Steve controlled his anger. He knew that he'd hurt Danny with not immediately telling him how he felt, but Steve honestly didn't know how he felt. He was surprised and a little shocked ,too. "I was surprised. You're my best friend, and at the time, we were fucking each other over every surface we could find. It was a bit of a surprise to find out you wanted more than just sex. I thought you were building a relationship with Gabby. After all, isn't she what you wanted?" This was not going how Steve had hoped.

"Yes, Steve. Gabby was my first choice at a relationship. It took three months and you deciding I wasn't worth a relationship, before I let her meet Grace. So maybe I decided to stop pining." The hurt and sadness was clearly written all over Danny's face. The words hurt Steve deeply. He had no intention of hurting Danny, but he had, and in the meantime he may have hurt two other people inadvertently.

"I didn't know, Danny. I really didn't." This time, Steve did reach out and take one of Danny's hands. He gripped it hard, in case Danny tried to pull away. "At the time, I was shocked and a little more than confused. I thought I was your second choice. I thought it was just sex," Steve said softly, gently.

"Well, it wasn't. You weren't."

The hurt on Danny's face was easy to see. Steve hated that he was the cause. "I didn't know that. I'm sorry." There it was-the apology. Now, for the harder part, convincing Danny that this was what Steve wanted. Those two weeks at sea made him realize Hawaii was home. Danny was home, but he spent almost a week avoiding Steve and anything to do with him. "I want more," Steve said quietly.

Danny gave a painful sigh. "You're too late. I won't hurt Gabby or Grace like that."

Steve gave a terse nod but refused to let go of Danny's hand. "You don't hurt them? Or you don't want to get hurt? Because I gotta tell you, I want this. I want it all. I love Gracie. I love you."

Silence filled the car. Steve knew Danny may not believe him. He may even choose to stay with Gabby. Once Danny committed his heart, he committed it fully. "Three weeks ago, you couldn't commit to me. Now you love me?" Danny's voice was rough.

"Three weeks ago, I was sidelined by a declaration that I never got a chance to respond to."

"What changed?" Danny was looking at their joined hands. He hadn't tried to pull his hand away. Steve took that as a good sign.

"I had time to think about it. I needed time to think about it." Steve squeezed Danny's hand. "Look at me, Danny."

"Why? Because you want this now? I am supposed to just jump back into bed with you?"

Steve shook his head. "No, I want you to be my partner outside of work. Fight with me, fuck me, make love to me. I realized we already had that. It took you telling me what you want to make me realize that."

This time, Danny pulled his hand away and looked up at Steve. "I can't do this."

"Tell me you don't still want me. Tell me that the love between us doesn't exist. Tell me I am wrong!" Steve was floundering. This wasn't how this was supposed to go. Danny always did surprise him; it was one of the things he loved most about Danny.

"You hurt me with your rejection." The declaration was quiet.

"Dammit, Danny! You are not understanding, I never got a chance to reject you. You left before I had a chance to say or do anything."

"When you came home, you didn't want anything to do with me."

"That is not true. I wanted to tell you immediately, but there was the smoke, the dog, and then the case. Danny, I wanted to take you in my arms and hold you." Steve was barely treading water here. He could feel it. "I tried talking to you in the car, but you were talking about Gabby and Grace. Then by the time the case was over, I was going to tell you after the Hilton. Then Gabby met Grace. I couldn't do it."

"I can't do it now. I won't put Grace through that."

Steve reached for the hand again. This time he refused to let it go. "Tell me the truth, Danny. Do you love me?"

Danny tried pulling his hand away, but Steve wouldn't allow it. The silence grew in the car while Steve waited Danny out. He had to love him. Steve was sure of it, but sometimes the man could be so stubborn. "I thought you were my future."

"I still can be."

"I don't know, Steve. I feel like I made a commitment to Gabby by having her spend time with Grace."

Steve nodded and spoke softly, "It is just their first meeting. They haven't built anything yet."

Danny's eyes were filled with anguish. "I don't want to hurt either of them."

"Is that what you want? To be in a relationship where you are stuck? Where it might grow into love, but you don't know? Or do you want a relationship already built on love?" Steve was fighting here. He was willing to speak about feelings if it meant Danny would be his. Right now, he wasn't sure about anything. Danny wasn't giving him much to work with.

"Steve." his name was was said so deep, it sounded like it hurt to say his name.

"I love you, Danny. It was stupid of me to let you leave that night. I don't want anyone but you." He could do this. Steve could give Danny what he wants, what he deserves, but Danny had to meet him halfway.

"I can't." Danny looked into Steve's eyes. Steve could see the indecision on his face.

"I want you, Danny. Any way you will have me. As a friend, a lover, whatever. I just want you."

The silence was only overridden by the sound of the Camaro's engine. Steve looked nowhere but into Danny's eyes. He held his hand like it was the only thing keeping him afloat. He had laid everything he had out. Now, it was Danny's turn to decide. "I," Danny faltered. He kept staring at Steve with those eyes.

"I love you. I will tell you every minute of every day, if I have to." Steve gave Danny's hand a gentle squeeze.

At a loss for words, Danny just squeezed back. Steve took it as a good sign. "Every minute of every day?"

"Yes. Always. Forever."

"I can't believe I am doing this."

Trying not to smile, Steve asked. "Doing what, Danny?"

"Saying yes. I can't believe I am trusting my heart to you." Danny gave Steve a hesitant smile.

"I love you." Steve said, tenderly and heartfelt.

"I love you, too." When Steve leaned forward, so did Danny. The center console dug into his thigh but that didn't matter. Kissing Danny was more important. It was a soft sweet kiss, a kiss of love. One they had never shared before.

"Danny," Steve whispered against Danny's lips. Steve was getting his heart's fondest wish. It was scary and amazing all at once.

They kissed for what seemed like hours, but in reality was merely a few minutes. "Steven," Danny sighed.

"Hmmm." Steve was content to just kiss forever.

"We have a crime scene to get to."

"Right. Work. Can we continue this later?" Steve didn’t want to stop kissing, afraid Danny would change his mind.

"Definitely."

It was all Steve needed. He pulled away and put his hands back on the wheel. Turning one last time to look at Danny, Steve declared, "I love you." As the Camaro pulled back into traffic, both of their smiles matched the bright Hawaiian sunlight.

 

Finis


End file.
